Knockdown boat



April 8, 1958 I. A. KEITH xnocxnown BOAT Filed Sept. 10. 1954 INVENTOR. /R w/v' A {(57 TH ATTORNEYS.

KNOCKDOWN BOAT Irvin A. Keith, Brockway, Pa. Applicationseptember 10, 1954, Serial No. 455,187

2 Claims. (Cl. 9-2) This invention relates to sectional or knockdown boats and particularly to a boat which is divided along its length 2,829,385 Patented Apr. 1 8, 1 958 "Ice * connected in end-to-end relation as generally shownin into plurality of sections which are adapted to be securely, I

fastened to each other in end to end relation to form an assembled structurally-rigid water-tight boat.

The provision of sectional boats of this general description has previously been proposed but the design principles of the present invention provide a novel end-to-end boat section connecting and interlocking construction whereby a boat may be readily assembled and disassembled and whereby the resultant connections of the several sections are inherently water-tight, highly rigid and economical of manufacture. The connecting structures of the present invention further are so arranged as to serve as trans verse reinforcements of the boat structure generally, thereby doing away with the usual necessity of providing ribs, thwarts or other transverse reinforcements of the sheet metal hull structure extraneous to the connecting means.

The boat construction of the present invention is such that the sections may be brought into end-to-end assembled relation by merely bringing the sections together, with only a slight relative lateral movement to. produce the interlocked or interfitting relation which forms a part of the present invention. The subsequent. securement of the sections to each other is quickly accomplished by means 1 of a; preliminary toggle joint fasteningdevice and a final tightening screw arrangement'which secures the sections in intimate water-tight'and rigid end-to-end relation.

A single specific and complete embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in the following specification but it is to be understood that such embodiment is by way of example only and that the principles of the present invention are not limited'otherwise'than as defined in the appended claims. v

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a general side elevational view of an assembled sectional boat constructed according to one form of the present invention; I

-'.Fig'. 2 is "a fragmentary transverse" cross-sectional view taken approximately on the line III--III of Fig. 4 but showing the boat sections in only partially assembled relationship;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse cross-sectional view on the line III-III of Fig. 4 showing the boat sections in finally assembled relationship;

Fig. 4 is an external side elevational view of the upper portion of a meeting end assembled pair of boat sections;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the meeting section portion of a boat structure as shown in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken approximately on the line VIVI of Fig. 4.

Like characters of reference denote like parts throughout the several figures of the drawing and, referring to Fig. 1, a typical boat of the present invention may comprise a bow section 10, a stern section 11, and intermediate sections 12, 13 and 14, all of the sections being Fig. l and as described more fully in conjunction with Figs. 2 through 6. The boat of the present invention may be formed of sheet metal or similar material Without limitation but a preferred construction comprises sheet aluminum and the connecting structures of, the sections of the present invention aresuch that welding of various kinds of reinforcements to the boat sections is unnecessary, such welding being particularly diflicult to effect in the case of aluminum.

Fig. 4 shows a representative pair of overlappingand interlocked boat sections, in the present instance the sections 12 and 13 of the boat of Fig. 1. The sections are viewed externally in Fig. 4 and it will be noted that the rear portion of the forwardsection 13 overlaps the'oute side ofthe forward portionof the more rearwardlsection". 12, so that the boat sectionsoverlap in such mannerv in a'forward' as to shed water in normal travel of the boat direction.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be noted that the rear edge portion of the forward section 13 is provided with an inwardly directed relatively deep bead formation 15, which extends along such edge of section 13 to follow the transverse cross sectional curvature of the boat, and the rearward section 12 has a complementary bead formation 16.

The bead formations 15 and 16 interfit' as illustrated in Fig. 6 when the boat sections are in assembled position. The forward marginal portion of each boat s ection excepting the bow section, that is,rof each of the boat.

sections 11 through14 in the present instance, is provided with a structural reinforcement which in the form illus trated herein by way of example is T-shaped in crQsssection and is designated 18 in Fig. 6. The reinforcing member 18 'extendsentirely about the inner transverse contour of the boat section and serves asa rigid rein forcement of the general boat structure -and, more:particularly, as a rigid elongated transversely extending seat member against which the overlapping rear portion of the next forward section 13'is securely clamped when the boat is fully assembled. i 3 p A sealing strip of sponge rubber or similar ghighly resilient material is, in the present instance, adhesiyely;

secured against the outer marginal surface of the forward edged the rearward section 12, preferably in suchposition that it lies'directly opposite to the inner structural reinforcing member 18. In the preferred embodiment the structural member 18 is riveted to the forward marginal portion of the boat sections as at 20 in Fig. 6 and the sealing strip 19 serves the auxiliary purposeof sealing the external rivet heads to insure the general water tightness "of the boat construction as far as these rivet holes are. concerned.

boat sections are provided, with outwardly directed return bent-flanges, the flanges being designated24 and' 25 in Fig. 4 in the case of the boat sections 12 and 13, respectively.' A rigid horizontal attaching flange or plate member designated 26 is fixed to the upper forward portion of each inner or rearward connecting boat section and in the illustrated instance such attaching flanges 26 are welded to each of the upper ends of reinforcing member 18.

The attaching flanges 26 may also be fixed to the forward portions of flanges 24 of boat section 12 in any desired manner to promote general rigidity, although such additional securement is not necessary. The forward portion of attaching flange 26 is provided with a depending pin member 28 which registers with and passes through a perforation in the flange 25 of outer or forward section 13 to facilitate registryof the boat sections The uppermarginal longitudinaledges of t he several the finally assembled boat by the interfitting of the bead to maintain the rigidity of the several boat sections and,

formations and 16 of connecting boat sections.

A primary and fundamental consideration in the constructionof a sectional boat of the generalcharacter here involved is the absolutely water-tight and rigid intercon-i nection of the boat sections and their connection in such a manner as to render the entire boat a rigid unitary while wherein the several sections mutually reinforce eachfothe'r to produce a rigid assembled boat structure.

Such assembly is accomplished in the present instance by connection means which may be drawn up in the first instance by a quick attaching and quick closing toggle link connection and screw threaded means which provide a final tightening screw action. Due to the preliminary quick closing or securing movement provided by the toggleconnection, the screw means requires only'a 'f'ew turns I to effect final securement.

The external surface of the outer overlapping forward boat section 13 is provided with a loop or bail member which in the present instance is attached to the boat section by means of a metal strap 31 which is riveted to the boat'section and provided with an eye formation 32 for pivotally supporting the loop member 30.

A toggle connecting device designated generally 33 is attached to the inner boat section 12 by means of a screw 34 Which passes loosely through a perforation formed in the attaching flange member 26. Screw 34 engages an internally threaded member 35 which pivotally supports a pair of link plates 36. A toggle arm member 37. is pivoted intermediately tothe link plates'36 as at 38, is provided with a manual manipulating portion 39 at one end portion, and is pivoted at its other end portion to a hook member as at 41.

In efiecting a preliminary attachment of the boat sec tions the hook formation of hook member 40 is engaged with the loop 30 of the outer boat section as illustrated in Fig. 2 and the manipulating portion 39 of the toggle arm member37 is moved in a clockwise direction to pull the hook member 40 upwardly to the toggle-closed position illustrated in Fig; 3. This brings the overlapping boat sections almost to finally assembled position and rigid water-tight securement is insured by imparting a small amount of screwing movement to the screw 34, threading the same into the member 35., Y

It will be noted tht the sealing strip '19 lies more or less immediately adjacent to the bead formations 15 and 16, just forwardly thereof, so that in assembling the .boat

sections the bead formation 15 of the outer overlapping section is disposed immediately adjacent the. rear marginal edge portion of the sealing member 19, thus serving as a retaining flange means for thesealing' member- 19.

The parts aer so proportioned inthe preferred em-,

bodiment that the bead members 15 and 16 fit into substantially intimate metal-to-metal contact in'the. assembling process wherein the sealing strip member 19Iis gompressed substantially to its most effective sealing con- The general structure is such that no further extraneous t 1 4 cross-bracing of any kind is required in most instances,

besides the general advantages of having an entirely open hull structure in the boat, the foregoing construction further provides a sectional boat structure wherein the sections, when disassembled, may readily be placed one within the other to provide a compactly nested sectional boat which may be readily transported and which may be housed within a fairly small compass.

What is claimed is:

I. In a sectionalyboat comprising a plurality of sections with the adjacent ends of each pair of sections adaptedto' be secured in overlapping relation, a bead formation along the edge of the inner of said overlapping sections and a complementary interfitting bead formation along the edge of the outer of said overlapping sections, an elongated reinforcing and stiffening member secured against the inner marginal edge of the inner section, an

: elongated resilient strip of sealing material attached to member, means connected with the opposite upper ends of the inner section and engaging between the upper ends of the boat sections to exert a circumferential pull on the opposite upper ends of the outer section to draw the same peripherally against the inner section to compress said resilient strip and secure the beads in interfitting relation. V

2. In a sectional boat comprising a plurality of sections with the adjacent ends of each pair of sections adapted tobe secured in overlapping relation, an inwardly formed bead along the edge of the inner of said overlapping sections and a complementary interfitting inwardly formed bead along the edge of the outer of said overlapping sections, an elongated reinforcing and stifiening member secured against the inner marginal edge of the inner section, an elongated resilient strip of sealing material attached to one of said members and extending along a Hat outer marginal edge of said inner section substantially in registry with said reinforcing member and adjacent to said beads, means connected with the opposite upper ends of the inner section and engaging between the upper ends of the boat sections to exert a circumferential pull on the opposite upper ends of the outer section to draw the same peripherally against the inner section to compress said resilient strip and secure the beads in interfitting relation.

References Citedin'the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,337,781 Lowderrnilk Apr. 20, 1920 2,040,373 Green May 12, 1936 2,129,788 Scruggs Sept, 13, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Austria Ian. 25, 1935 

